Thanks to generous donations from our customers, we were able to fill most of the wish list of educational toys put together by the Ronald McDonald House of New York. The items we sent, which include Exobonz (pictured left), Zoob, Snap Circuits Jr. and Build-A-Road, are already being enjoyed by the children who use the educational playroom there.  Often teachers will come to the room to work with students who are being educated at the center because they are not able to attend school. Many of the toys requested by RMDH will be used to develop children’s fine motor and cognitive skills.

This past weekend, I was fortunate enough to have the opportunity to meet some of the children and their families served by RMDH of New York. I volunteered to make and serve breakfast to the families along with a group of other members of my synagogue.  The children and their families come from all over the country to receive cancer treatment here in New York City, and RMDH provides them with a temporary free place to live.  Some families stay for only a few days and others for years. Families are required to provide their own food and cook their own meals in the kitchen facilities. Occasionally volunteers like our group bring food in, cook it and serve the families to give them a much needed break. On Sunday, I scrambled dozens of eggs in the kitchen, bringing out fresh batches and taking short breaks to meet the children. After breakfast, the children enjoyed decorating homemade cookies, playing musical chairs and freeze dance.   The delight on their faces still makes me feel all fuzzy inside.

It was an incredible experience for me and I have committed to helping out with the breakfast program on a regular basis. I thank RMDH for giving me personally and also GIFT HERO the opportunity to help these children and their families. We have already asked them to think about how GIFT HERO can continue to help, so stay tuned.

Happy 2010 from GIFT HERO!  Thanks to our customers, our holidays were joyful (and very busy). We are excited about the year ahead and are busy finding all of the best new birthday gifts to add to our store.

To make room for new inventory, we are having our first annual January sale!  Through January 25th, we are offering 30% off a selection of our toys, games and puzzles. Some of the too-good-to-miss gifts on sale are the 333-piece Building Set from Clics, the C9-R Sports Car from Automoblox, Air Force One Playset from Daron, Sleeping Beauty Ballet Theater from Candlewick Press, and the Bling by Number Tote Bag from Fashion Angels. To see all of our sale products, visit our sale category.

Shop now for the best selection and stock up on gifts for January birthday parties. Remember, if you spend $75 or more, you’ll get free shipping.

Tonight is the 7th night of Hanukkah, a Jewish holiday commemorating the rededication of the Holy Temple in Jerusalem after the Maccabees defeated the Syrians and won their religious freedom.  Hanukkah is also called the Festival of Lights because after the Maccabees purified the Temple they rekindled the Menorah (a candelabra).  Although they believed they only had enough oil for one day…the oil lasted for 8 days.

Hanukkah is celebrated for 8 days and each night a candle is lit, prayers and songs are sung…and gifts are given. When I was a child, I always received a gift each night – not always something big, but something.  We have continued this tradition in our home.  It is joyful to watch Benjamin light the candles, recite the prayers, and, of course, open presents.

Since I co-own a toy business, Benjamin really got some wonderful gifts this year.  Here is what we got for him from GIFT HERO: Do You Sudoku Game for Kids by University Games, Zoobmobile Dragster by Infinitoy, Snap Circuits Jr by Elenco, the World Puzzle by Mudpuppy, and Bananagrams. 

The 8th night of Hanukkah is Friday December 18th.  Happy Hanukkah to all of our Jewish friends, fans and customers!

It’s amazing to me how many “national holidays” there are.  Forget about Memorial Day, Labor Day and Veterans Day…there’s a day commemorating everything from board games to secretaries to popcorn. Today, December 15th, is National Cupcake Day!

Who doesn’t love cupcakes? For some reason they taste better than a slice of cake. They are a classroom classic for birthday parties at school. Benjamin and I are a little obsessed with the Big Top Cupcake pan – we see the commercial for it all the time on Discovery Kids. I promised him we would get one when we move into our new apartment and actually have a functioning kitchen.

For a mess-free cupcake experience, check out the new Bake and Decorate Cupcake Set from Melissa & Doug.  With this adorable set, kids can create their own pretend cupcakes and decorate them over and over again with dry erase markers that look like frosting tubes. This set is a must-have for any play kitchen.  It is guaranteed to deliver hours of fun for kids 3 and up.

Just in time for the holidays, we added three brand new products from Zoob to GIFT HERO.  We love Zoob building sets because they are so versatile. Kids can create anything from vehicles to animals to buildings and so much more. The sets are really durable, and the pieces big enough to not get lost as easily as some of the other big name  building sets.

Pictured here is  Sparkle Zoob – the same Zoob building pieces in bright, sparkly colors. The folks at Zoob told us this product was created specifically to interest girls, who are more attracted to these pieces than to the traditional Zoob colors. I love that more companies are starting to realize that girls love to build as much as boys. My daughter Maya has her eye on this set for sure!

Also new from Zoob is the Zoob Cube – which contains sturdy floor tiles and Zoob pieces so that kids can create new kinds of Zoob creations like forts and buildings. The Zoob pieces fit right into the panels – which also interlock together to hold the Zoob pieces for storage – very clever design by the folks at Zoob.

Finally, we love the Zoob Jr. line, made especially for ages 3-5.  The Zoob Jr. pieces are bigger in size for little hands.  We have added the brand new Zoob Jr. Zoomers, which includes Zoob pieces, wheels and instruction cards with easy to follow diagrams that do not require reading. Boys will love making their own moving vehicles and then zooming them all over the place. A great addition to the line from Zoob!

As a special holiday gift to our customers, we are offering free gift bags with each gift purchased from today through December 17th.  We normally charge $3 per bag – which we think is a steal for gift wrap (with our nifty drawstring bag, you don’t need to wrap or find a bag to carry the gift, plus the bag is reusable as a tote or a storage bag for toys).

To receive your bags, you must add one to your shopping cart for each gift you order.  Just click on the blue “Add a Gift Bag” button in the shopping cart to add bags to your order. 
Happy holidays and enjoy!

December is a great time to make donations to organizations that are important to you.  The solication envelopes are piling up on my desk.  In addition to cash donations, one thing I love to do before year end is clean out my closets and donate clothing and gear that Benjamin has grown out of.

I was thrilled to learn that Baby Buggy, an amazing organization that helps New York City’s children in need, is holding a gear drive this weekend.  From December 3-5th, you can donate new and gently used strollers, high chairs, front carriers and bassinets to local families. 

Location: The Caledonia, 16th Street between 9th and 10th Avenues
Times:  Thursday and Friday 10-7, Saturday 10-5*
(*Come with your children on Saturday and make a card to send to a recipient family)

Please consider joining me in supporting this wonderful cause…I will be donating a stroller and a high chair!

Blocks are one of the most amazing toys.  When we visited preschools to choose a school for Benjamin, they all bragged about their block areas and the wonderful structures the children built.  Young children learn through block play – it builds mental as well as physical skills.  Block play teaches math and science, creativity and problem solving skills, and social and emotional skills as children learn to work together.

Blocks are a wonderful toy to have in your home but the average wood block set takes up a lot of room, is very heavy to move around, is expensive and makes a ton of noise when the structure inevitably topples over – by accident or on purpose. 

At GIFT HERO, we are big proponents of block play and were so excited to discover the Wood-Like Soft Blocks from Edushape.  This 80-piece set looks like real wood but the pieces are made of foam so they are light, portable and quiet!  They come in a storage bag with a carrying handle.  They also float so they are fun in the tub.  The manufacturer recommends these blocks for as young as 2 years old but at GIFT HERO we recommend it for older children as well as this is a gift that will really grow with a child…who is guaranteed to still be building with this set for years to come.

It’s National Board Game Week – so I thought I would share some of my favorites. We try to carry awesome games that are not available everywhere (and which the gift recipient is not likely to have already).  Chances are, if you are giving  Candy Land, Clue Jr. or Scrabble, they’ve already got it.

By far, our household favorite is Gobblet Jr., essentially a more complicated version of tic-tac-toe. The playing pieces come in different sizes and the bigger ones can “gobble up” the smaller ones and take their spaces.  It is a great strategy game for ages 5 and up and both of my kids thoroughly enjoy it (as do I). It’s also won about a bajillion awards if you don’t believe me.

For the younger set, three and four year olds, Diggity Dog is a great pick. Kids move the dogs around the board the number of times as the dog “barks.” When their dog finds the matching dog bones they get to pick them up with the dog’s magnet nose and return them to their doghouse.  This game is so much fun and teaches young children counting, colors, and develops fine motor skills. It’s not available everywhere so chances are the kid won’t have it already.

For 8 and up, one of our favorites is the Scrambled States of America.  I love it especially because it is compact and can go anywhere with you. And, it is so much fun that kids won’t even think of it as educational. My son Josh wants to play it all the time and luckily his grandma loves to play it with him. It has become a bit of a tradition for them to play it together.

Board games make great gifts – just be sure to pick one a little off the radar and appropriate for the age. Don’t buy “up” when it comes to board games because it can be very frustrating for a child to try to play a game that requires a skill that their age has not yet developed (i.e. reading).  I’ll never forget when Maya received Scrabble Jr. at age 4 – she didn’t even know all of her letters yet and someone gave her a game that involved spelling. Needless to say, it sat in the closet for a long time!

My son Josh turns 8 years old this month and we had his party with a few friends at the ESPN zone – which is heaven for my sports-obsessed son.  It actually was a great place for a small birthday party – we had lunch in the restaurant while the kids watched the Giants play. We even brought our own cake (decorated like a football game at Josh’s request) and then headed upstairs to the game room, where they spent an hour playing soccer, basketball, baseball, hockey and more. It was truly a wonderful experience for Josh.

I asked Josh what he wanted for his birthday that we sell on GIFT HERO.  His top picks are Sports Challenge for Kids, Physics Discovery and Zoob 125.  Thanks to some generous friends and family, he will be receiving these. Any of these make a great 8 year old birthday gift.